Okay, this is my first story, so be nice! This is a Bella and James story, so all Bella/Edward faithfuls, you might want to click the back button now.

R&R!

I own nothing.

BPOV

I was still a human, regrettably, and I was running as fast as my human slowness could take me. I knew that I only had a few more minutes until Edward finally caught on, or maybe he already knew, and was coming to get me and kill James. No. I couldn't let that happen. That thought drove me around the corner faster than I thought possible, and I busted through the doors to the studio and shouted.

"James!"

EPOV

I couldn't believe how stupid I was. How could I let Bella into the arms of that sicko James? I am the most stupid, vile, undeserving thing on this plain of existence. I should just kill myself now, because I know it's too late. But I have to try. Not for mine, but for Bella's sake. I can only hope that he wont kill her soon. I cringed at that thought as I ran faster.

BPOV

I was answered by the sound of my mother's voice, all panicky and shrill. "Bella? Bella?" she said with fright. I laughed and called James again. He walked out of the other room, his dark blonde hair looking uber sexy as he looked me up and down.

"Nice to see you again, Bella."

I smiled. " You too, my sexy uber-vamp boyfriend."

He chuckled and was next to me in a flash, one of those too quick to see moves that made my heart flutter. He grabbed me by my waist and gently but somehow still roughly pressed his lips onto mine. I reluctantly pulled away.

"Come on James, you know we don't have time for this."

He frowned. He was so cute, it was almost too hard to resist kissing him again, but there was work to do.

"Okay, okay. Let's finish this up quick." He pulled out his video camera and I worked to put a scared look on my face.

"And…action."

I looked at the video camera in horror, and I started running for the door. I was laughing quietly to myself as I struggled with the door handle, and straightened out my face when James whipped me around by my shoulder and bit down on my neck. Really hard. My next scream wasn't fake, because that venom hurt like a…well, you can figure out the rest. I pushed at his shoulder. This was kind of like our safety word. When I pushed, he stopped. Then he turned to the camera and said with a bloody mouth:

"Looks like you're too late, Eddie boy. Better luck next time."

He laughed, and that sound truly scared me. He closed the camera and turned to me with lusty eyes. That almost turned me on, but the fact that he was staring right at my neck kind of ruined it for me. I grabbed his chin and made him look at my eyes.

"Remember the mission. You can have me all you want later, just get me out of here now." I snarled.

He looked at me now. It took him a while, but he focused and grinned at me. That smile brought me back to when I first fell in love with him. It almost completely washed away the pain as he took me somewhere, I couldn't tell where, I was just cruising around in my mind while the pain overtook my body.

A few weeks earlier…

It was right after Charlie told me that some "wild animal" had killed one of his buddies. I knew it was a vampire, but I hadn't dreamed of telling Edward. Another check on the list of perks I got from a brain with a glitch. After Edward had so graciously and over protectively taken me home, I told him that I wanted "a human minute" which was my way of saying "leave me alone for a bit, kay?" He left, and as soon as I was sure that he was gone, I went straight into the forest. I wasn't really lloking for anything, so I kept wandering, wondering what I was going to do about Edward being so stubborn. I wanted to be a vampire dammit! Why did he have to be so resistant?

"Argh! Stupid, good for nothing, not ready to change me vampire!" I muttered to myself.

I heard a rustle, and smelled the sweet scent of a vampire. Had he heard me? I tried to convince myself that was good; I mean we had to talk about this sooner or later right? So I put up a brave front.

"Alright. I know you're there. Just come out so we can get this over with."

I turned to the direction of the rustling, and was surprised to find a vampire that wasn't Edward, step out from behind a tree. But what scared me the most was his blood red eyes. In one instant I was sure that he was responsible for killing those people. Shortly after the shock and fear, I felt fascination. Who was this vampire? And why didn't he immediately kill me? He obviously hunted humans; the truth was in his eyes. He studied me with the same curious look I was giving him with a hint of amusement. He spoke with a deep tenor voice that stuck in my head deeper than Edward's ever did.

"I'm not sure I'm who you're talking about, but if it's any consolation, I would have changed you."

A flicker of hope wiggled its way into my brain before I could stop it.

"You would? Oh please, can you? I want to be a vampire so badly I…" I stopped myself. Since when did I go spilling my guts to every vampire in town? To my surprise, he chuckled. I smiled. Maybe he wouldn't kill me, but either way, this was going to be painful. He grinned at me, and my heart melted. I would kill to see another smile like that.

"…I forgot to introduce myself. My name is--"

"Isabella Marie Swan. I've heard of you. It's nice to finally meet you. My name is James."

And it all branched from that little altercation. A mistake that turned my life, which was already upside down to begin with, sideways to the perfect degree that made everything clear. I am in love with James, and in the scheme of things, Edward was just a bridge to where I truly belonged. I always thought, ever since I discovered the existence of vampires, that I was destined to be a vampire one day. Alice had seen it, too.

After that day in the forest, James told me that he was too intrigued by me to kill me, even though it was really hard at times. We met in the forest all the time, whenever I fed Edward the same old story about wanting to be alone. We got to know each other, and he told me that one of the only reasons why he kept me alive was because I told him that I wanted to be a vampire. He wanted me to be a vampire too. Eventually, we kissed. James always had a rougher touch when it came to me, and I was liking the change. After that first passionate kiss, we couldn't stay away from each other for long. After a while, we both came to the agreement that I needed to break off from Edward and run away with James.

We devised a plan which was convoluted, but would work. I would meet James officially, along with the other two members of his coven, while Edward and the rest of the Cullens were playing baseball. James would spot me, and pretend to want to kill me. Then we would go through the whole cat and mouse bit for a while, and James would "force" me to come to him. There, he would turn me for real, but make it look like he drained me of blood for Edward and the rest. Then Edward would have a hard time trying to find us while I changed, and we would have to lay low for a while, of course, and then we would be able to go anywhere we wanted to, as long as we stayed out of the Olympic Peninsula.

Now…

JPOV

I put the video camera down; there were more important things to worry about, like Bella. She just fainted, probably because of the pain, or maybe she wasn't unconscious at all, and she was just trying to focus on something other than the pain. I stood there for a while, just letting her blood spill on the floor. I brought her over to a mirror, which I punched and smeared some of her blood on it. I decided that was enough "evidence" and that Eddie boy would be livid. I smiled at that thought. The last thing I did before I left was leave the video camera on the table before I started to run. I was carrying her seemingly lifeless form away from the ballet studio in the cover of night. The good side of planning this little event during twilight was the quick means for escape without much notice. The bad part was that the Cullens would be on my tail soon, and I'm not so sure if I could make it to the designated spot fast enough. The plan was actually to go back to Forks, where Bella's scent was spread all around, and hide somewhere there, like in her house if need be. I had already wiped all of her blood clean from her neck and my face, but that Edward was around her so much that he could probably trace her scent almost anywhere. There was also the problem of Alice. Bella told me that she could see my decisions, so deciding where to take Bella was going to be a problem. I decided after a quick thought, to not decide, and to take her anywhere. Luckily vampires never got tired, so I could probably keep running for 3 days straight…the only problem would be the day part of those days. I decided, thinking that this should be my last decision, that I would cross any bridge I came to when I got to it. I just had to keep running…

EPOV

I got to the Ballet studio faster than the rest of my family, because I wasn't trying to keep pace with them. I crashed through a window, not caring for the element of surprise or anything else but Bella. But neither she nor James were there. I snarled to myself. I couldn't let him get away with her. A part of my mind wondered though…

Why did he take her with him? He doesn't have any reason to keep her, unless…

"No!" I roared to the empty room when I realized that the only reason he would take her is to turn her into a vampire or torture her more. And I couldn't let the first happen, but the second wasn't much better. I wouldn't damn her to this life, directly or otherwise. But I had nowhere to look. Just then I realized that I had been staring at the little video camera for about a minute without noticing what I was doing. I picked it up, being careful not to break it into little pieces, for I was sure that it was a clue…or perhaps a taunt. Either way, I pressed play, and I saw nothing at first, I just heard my Bella speaking, and she didn't sound scared at all.

"…don't have time for this." What could she possibly mean?

"Okay, okay, let's finish this up quick. And…action" He pointed the camera, and I saw my beautiful Bella, with a first serious but horror-struck face. Then she turned and ran, struggling with the door, but I thought I heard something in the background. I prayed to no one that she would somehow get the door open in time, but I knew that she wouldn't. I watched in horror as James grabbed her and spun her by her shoulder, and sucked her life away as she screamed. I wanted to smash the stupid camera right then, but I knew that was my only hope of finding Bella and saving her. Then, the monster turned to face me and uttered the words that burned themselves into my mind as soon as I heard them.

Looks like you're too late, Eddie boy. Better luck next time.

Better luck next time.

Better luck next time.

Better luck next time.

It was then that I lost myself to the monster in me.

BPOV

I regained my sense of what was what a little too early. Too early as in I WAS STILL BURNING. The worst part was that I had no idea if I had been out for a day, or two, or if I only had five minutes left. I opened my eyes, and I was somewhere in a place that I didn't recognize. I counted that as positive. That meant that James found a place, and that Edward hadn't managed to find us yet.

Why do I still have to run from him? Why didn't I try the conventional way?

I tried to remember why we hadn't done it the simpler way. I mentally turned back time, trying to find the specific conversation that me and James had about that.

Oh yeah I remember now.

*Flashback*

"Bella, you know you could just break up with him. I don't care if you tell him that you've been cheating on him, I just don't want anyone else under the delusion that you belong to anyone but me." I mentally sighed at this declaration. This was part of the reason why I loved him.

"James. There's something about Edward that I can't explain that tells me that he wouldn't go down without a fight. He would go so far as to kill to 'keep me safe'. I don't want either of you to die, I just want to be with you." and become a vampire, I'd added mentally.

"I know Bella. But we could get away. We could disappear, and that would be that." he offered.

"I know, but I can't do that to Charlie. I'm telling you James, I have to die. That's the only way that no one will look for me and we will be able to live without looking over our shoulders every step of the way. I'm not going to run away from Edward."

*End of Flashback*

As I laid here in agony, I thought about James. Where was he? Where were we? I opened my eyes. It was very hard to concentrate with the blistering pain all through my body. But I managed to sit up and look around. James wasn't there, so I just assumed that he was out hunting or something. Whatever. I went back into my stupor, hoping to pass the time as I was in this pain, hoping that it was almost over. What else was there to think about? There was our first kiss…

*Flashback*

I had just about gotten to my boiling point with Edward; there was only so much a girl could take. I idly wondered if he knew I went into the forest every time I wanted a human minute, then dismissed the thought because James had stopped hunting near Forks a while ago. I walked a little quicker than usual, venting my anger at Edward's futility. Why did I find him so annoying now all of a sudden? My answer came to a stop in front of me.

"James." I sighed. It was always a relief to see his beauty. I took a moment to study his features. His sexy dark blonde hair, his sexy leather jacket, right down to his sexy smile. Even his eyes were sexy. Simply sexy.

"It seems you're glad to see me." I then realized that he could smell my arousal, which usually spurred when I saw him. I laughed nervously.

"Soo what have you been doing lately?" I said, trying to distract him from my evident arousal at his presence.

"Nothing much, just hunting…and thinking about you."

My heart fluttered in surprise. "Really?" I said, not being able to help but smile.

"Yeah. I missed your scent." he closed his eyes and inhaled, visibly enjoying my aroma.

He stepped closer, and I was a little frightened in the back of my mind at what he was going to do. He came even closer, pressing me up against a tree behind me. He trailed his lips along the curve of my neck.

"Simply intoxicating." he murmured. I closed my eyes, enjoying him being so close to me without restraint. Edward was never this free with me. The danger gave me a strange high. He brought his lips up to my jaw, then my chin, then pulled away. I whimpered. We were so close. For once in my life, I took control and I kissed him. He was slightly surprised, I could tell because his lips were taut against mine for a split second. Then he chuckled and muttered something like, "The human's getting lusty isn't she?" or something like that. I couldn't concentrate because of the awesome feeling of his lips on mine. We worked together, his tongue exploring the insides of my mouth, then inviting me into his. He was so cold, my tongue went numb after a few seconds and he pulled away. I looked into his blood red eyes, and I knew that we were meant to be together.

I was just fine with that.

*End of Flashback*

I woke up, and the pain was gone.

I looked around. Everything was so beautiful, I even found myself looking at the tiny cracks in the wall. I was mesmerized until I looked at James. The first thing that struck me was his beauty. He was gorgeous. His skin seemed lighter than before, almost paler, if that was possible. His dark blonde hair actually had multiple highlights. His eyes, crimson and burning into mine, were what shook me out of my stupor. There was so much pain and sorrow in those eyes. There was also…lust, but to such a small degree that I didn't even notice it next to the raw pain in his eyes. I ran my tongue over my new and razor sharp teeth.

"What's wrong?"

He smiled at me. That heartbreaking smile that made me fall for him in the first place. It was somehow different though. I figured that it was because I was seeing through different eyes. But the thought still nagged at me, tugging at my brain like a petulant child on its mother's dress. After a while, you can't ignore it. I stored it away for later, when I had time to think. Because the hunt wasn't over yet.